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Turnovers cost Jets late; Woodlan escapes with win, 54-50

WOODBURN—Despite holding a one point lead with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, three turnovers in the final minute turned out to be the deciding factor as Adams Central fell to the Woodlan Warriors by a score of 54-50 on Friday night.
The Warriors' senior guard Greg White came up big for Woodlan in the final quarter scoring five points and collecting three steals. His two biggest points of the contest came with 7.1 seconds as he connected on two free throws to give the home team a four-point lead.
The final AC possession was a desperate inbounds heave that hit off the backboard resulting in Woodlan running out the clock to the end the game.
Adams Central managed to jump out to an early 19-11 lead in the first quarter and looked to be in command early on thanks to senior Blade Kable scoring 11 of their first 14 points.
The Warriors primary weapon in the first quarter was senior center Jaylin Bennett as he established his 6'5", 250-pound presence early scoring 10 points and collecting five rebounds in the first quarter alone.
Despite the early success, AC managed to make the adjustment of switching to a 2-3 zone to help neutralize the big man for the remainder of the game.
However, the Warriors owned the second quarter as they quickly erased an eight-point deficit largely due to some streaky shooting of their own. Senior guard Kadin Gerig took advantage of a collapsing defense and hit three consecutive 3-pointers to help cut the Jet lead to 30-28 at intermission.
The Warriors started off fast in the second half by utilizing a fast-paced tempo allowing their guards to shine including sophomore Jeffrey Jones, who scored eight of his ten points in the third to give Woodlan a 43-42 lead at the quarter's end.
AC's senior guard Hayden Black carried the Jets by accounting for eight of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter including a much-needed put back off his own miss with only a few ticks remaining to cut the lead to one.
Fatigue and tension set in for both squads in the final eight minutes as baskets came difficult to come by. Although Nick Baumer was a non-factor offensively for the first three quarters, he managed to carry the team shooting in the fourth scoring the final six points for the Jets including a couple of go-ahead baskets in the final minutes.
Despite missed free throws and wasted possessions from Woodlan in the final two minutes, Adams Central couldn't capitalize allowing the Warriors to hit free throws in the final seconds to help close the game out.
Adams Central was led by Black's 19 points, while Kable, who had 11 in the first quarter, managed to score only three points in the final three quarters to go along with three blocks.